The drafters of the proposed company law have included in the law a requirement for Joint Stock Companies to have independent directors. The new board independence requirements in the proposed company law ensure that Macedonia adheres to the corporate governance principles of the OECD and is in line with the requirements of many European countries. With these requirements, Macedonia will take the lead in improving corporate governance standards in the region. They will also assist Macedonia to attract foreign investment and help joint stock companies to gain the confidence of domestic and foreign investors.

To assess whether the proposed company law sufficiently addresses the independence of directors of joint stock companies, this article compares the latest international developments with the proposals of the Macedonian drafting committee. Although the article concludes that compared with the 1996 law, significant improvements have been made, more disclosure requirements are needed in the new company law to ensure that Macedonian joint stock companies will comply with the requirement to have independent directors in their Board of Directors or Supervisory Board.

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Maassen, G.F. (2002). An International Comparison of Corporate Governance Models. A Study on the Formal Independence and Convergence of One-Tier and Two-Tier Corporate Boards of Directors in the United States of America, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Amsterdam: Spencer Stuart Executive Search.